For the drug delivery work I do, we actually boil the cocoons to remove the sericin then dissolve the fibery fibroin in lithium bromide. So it’s the same stuff as is used for textiles…just essentially melted.

That IS neat, but in a completely off topic way, I have a question for you. I often shop for gifts at the Greater Good network, and they recently had some silk objects produced “non-cruelty” as they put it. Apparently, the items are made in a village of very observant sorts who harvest the cocoons AFTER they hatch. Does this impact the silk in any unfavorable way, or is it usually not done this way just for speed and convenience?

No, I didn’t see it, thanks for the link. It was exactly this sort of kind of commercialized cynicism I was wondering about…thus why I didn’t buy any of the offered items. Thank you so much for the answers I needed. Now, I can answer those who question ME!

Hi! I know this is kinda off topic but I was wondering which
blog platform are you using for this site? I’m getting fed up of WordPress because I’ve had problems with hackers and I’m
looking at options for another platform. I would be awesome if you could point me in the direction of a good platform.